Manning, Rivers face off again

3rd meeting of QBs who were traded for each other in 2004

Associated Press

Associated Press

Published 9:55 pm, Saturday, December 7, 2013

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - NOVEMBER 24: Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants drops back to pass against the Dallas Cowboys during their game at MetLife Stadium on November 24, 2013 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 184893262

Eli Manning and Philip Rivers will meet Sunday for the third time since being traded for each other on draft day 2004.

Chargers fans will get another chance to boo the player who spurned their city back then.

Otherwise, it'll be a showdown between desperate teams that are 5-7 and closer to last place than first place in their respective divisions.

Manning claims he can't even remember why Archie Manning told the Chargers not to take his son with the No. 1 pick overall in 2004.

"It's been 10 years. It slipped my mind," said Manning, whose receivers Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks are sure to test San Diego's porous secondary.

The Chargers took Manning anyway, then sent him to the Giants about 45 minutes later for Rivers and a handful of draft picks, two of which they later used to take kicker Nate Kaeding and outside linebacker Shawne Merriman.

"It always brings up memories, certainly, of that 30 or 45 minutes when we were on each other's teams," Rivers said. "I never really thought I was going to New York. When you get drafted by a team and you still have never spoken to them, there usually is a chance it's not real. It certainly was crazy and to think it has been almost 10 years. Time does fly."

Manning went on to win two Super Bowl rings with the Giants. Rivers is still trying to get his first NFL championship game.

Rivers said he's not motivated to catch up to Manning or even Ben Roethlisberger, another member of the Class of 2004 who has two Super Bowl rings.

"I want to help lead this team to win," Rivers said. "I want to do it because I want to do it with these guys that we've put so much time in together. I want to help lead us to get there. Not because they got it. It's really not about that."

Manning is 0-2 against the Chargers, with losses in San Diego in 2005, when Drew Brees was still the Chargers' starter, and at home in 2009, when Rivers threw three touchdown passes, including a last-minute winner to Vincent Jackson.